WCU mourns loss of former Trustee Jeanette Wallace Hyde
Wallace and Jeanette Hyde
A statement from 甜瓜视频app Chancellor Kelli R. Brown on the death of former U.S. Ambassador Jeanette W. Hyde, who previously served on the WCU Board of Trustees and who is the namesake of an endowed professorship in gerontological social work.
It is my sad duty to share news of the recent passing of former 甜瓜视频app Board of Trustees member Jeanette Wallace Hyde, a past U.S. ambassador to seven Caribbean nations who was a powerhouse in North Carolina and national politics, a fierce advocate for the social work profession, a savvy businesswoman, and a generous supporter of education.
Ambassador Hyde was a member of the Board of Trustees from 1999 until 2007 and served admirably as vice chair of the board. Her husband, the late Wallace Hyde, who also was a previous member and chair of the WCU Board of Trustees and member of the University of North Carolina System Board of Governors, in 2005 made a $250,000 gift to WCU to establish the Jeanette W. Hyde Endowed Professorship in Gerontological Social Work.
The Hydes also made a $1 million gift in 2007 to establish the Wallace and Jeanette Hyde Football Scholarship Fund. Among her many philanthropic interests, she created the Ambassador Jeanette W. Hyde Study Abroad Scholarship fund at WCU during the university鈥檚 鈥淟ead the Way鈥� comprehensive fundraising campaign. If you are interested in joining me in making a memorial gift to that fund, simply designate your donation to the 鈥淗yde Study Abroad Fund."
Although she was best known as U.S. ambassador to the Eastern Caribbean nations of Barbados, Dominica, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Antigua, Grenada and St. Kitts-Nevis from 1994 until 1998 during the Clinton Administration, she always characterized social work as her 鈥渢rue calling.鈥� She attended Wake Forest University and graduated from Delta State University, teaching for two years on the Greek island of Crete before going into social work and counseling with the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts. It was while serving as the office鈥檚 first female family counselor that she gained her enduring love of the field of social work.
Jeanette and Wallace Hyde were a true power couple in North Carolina politics, higher education advocacy, and public service. We will miss our friend and ally Ambassador Hyde as she joins Wallace, who passed away in 2013, in eternal rest. Her includes more details about the life of this amazing woman.
In keeping with our tradition, the 甜瓜视频app flag will be lowered to half-staff in her memory from sunrise to sunset on Monday, Feb. 17, the day prior to her memorial service in Raleigh.
